I just wanted to post my experience with Verizon FiOS service.

I recently had the service installed.

The service included local and long distance telephone, 5Mbit Internet and a
Digitial Cable like TV service.

0) Background
I moved into my house in 1999. Since then I have had Antenna,
DirecTV, Digital Cable and Analog cable for TV Service.
I moved to Cable modem in 2000 or so.

1) Install.
Please allow an ENTIRE day for the install. The first tech arrived at
my house at 9.30am. The last tech left my house at 7.30pm.
That was a bit of a surprise. They had told me that install could
take between 4-6 hours, but i did not expect 8.
To add to that, when the video tech's left at 8, i still did not
have TV service. They had to come back the next day to fix that.
They blamed the video problem on third party (of course).
The tech that came back the next day was able to get the video
service up and running in about 30-45 minutes.

As a part of the install, they must first add an ONT (optical network
termnial) to the outside of your house. From there, they must
add another network terminal inside your house and then a battery
backup to that network terminal. They have mounted both
of these inside the house. They then add wireless firewall/router
to your exisitng home network (even if you already have one).

The battery backup is required to keep the phone running in case of
power outage. When there is power outage, you will lose internet and
TV, regardless of whether or not you have their equipment plugged
into your own UPS.

2) The Service
The phone service is transparent. Nothing is different.
The internet service seems faster than cable, but its hard to tell. I
just ran DSL Reports speed test.
It indicated that my download was only 481, but my upload was 1505. I
may have to tweak.

The video service
Pretty much the same as all the digital TV services. Video on
Demand and all that. Picture is very clear. On screen guide is not
as good was what i remember from my DirecTV, but that may be
receiver dependedent.
For VOD, there are no movies on VOD unless you subscribe to one of
the movie packages (HBO/Showtime/Stars). And the Kids VOD has
some interesting things, however unless they change regularly, my
kids will probably get bored of them.

If you have addl TV's you can hook them up with out the converter
box. You will get local channels. Very similar to Cable in my area. Much
better than DirecTV.

The universal remote that comes with the Digital Box is pretty good.
One problem is it can either run your DVD or your VCR, but not both.

3) The Cost
I was told my bottom line would be about 105 + tax. (I only have one TV
with Digital Box). I compare that to the 150 i was paying for all of these
services prior the change.

4) Review
Aside from the Install, i am happy so far. Mostly everything is
transparent, so i do not notice much of a difference. It will take a while
to get
use to new channels, but that is the case with any new system.

did they warn you the upgrade was a one way thing?

I am scheduled for the end of the month in pittsburgh, they said once
you go fibre for DSL you CANT EVER go back!

are you using VOIP for phone?

did they warn you the upgrade was a one way thing?

I am scheduled for the end of the month in pittsburgh, they said once
you go fibre for DSL you CANT EVER go back!

They tried pulling this stunt initially. You DO NOT have to let them remove
your copper lines. If you do then you'll have to pay to have new ones put
back up again. DO NOT let them take down the copper lines, nothing,
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, requires the copper lines to be removed. This is all a
scam by Verizon to trap you into using their unregulated fiber services.
That is, the fiber plant is not under the same restrictions as copper
wiring. Verizon doesn't have to abide by the same cooperative rules with
the fiber as they do with the copper. With shared wiring there's
competition. With Verizon having played this little game with the FCC
they're effectively stifling innovation and competition. And by yanking
down the copper they truly trap you.

DO NOT let them remove your copper lines.

Me personally, I'd rather sell children into slavery than give those
*******s any money whatsoever. Thus I've got speakeasy DSL and DirecTV.

On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 12:41:57 GMT, "Robert Fenster"
wrote:

I just wanted to post my experience with Verizon FiOS service.

I recently had the service installed.

The service included local and long distance telephone, 5Mbit Internet and a
Digitial Cable like TV service.

0) Background
I moved into my house in 1999. Since then I have had Antenna,
DirecTV, Digital Cable and Analog cable for TV Service.
I moved to Cable modem in 2000 or so.

1) Install.
Please allow an ENTIRE day for the install. The first tech arrived at
my house at 9.30am. The last tech left my house at 7.30pm.
That was a bit of a surprise. They had told me that install could
take between 4-6 hours, but i did not expect 8.
To add to that, when the video tech's left at 8, i still did not
have TV service. They had to come back the next day to fix that.
They blamed the video problem on third party (of course).
The tech that came back the next day was able to get the video
service up and running in about 30-45 minutes.

As a part of the install, they must first add an ONT (optical network
termnial) to the outside of your house. From there, they must
add another network terminal inside your house and then a battery
backup to that network terminal. They have mounted both
of these inside the house. They then add wireless firewall/router
to your exisitng home network (even if you already have one).

The battery backup is required to keep the phone running in case of
power outage. When there is power outage, you will lose internet and
TV, regardless of whether or not you have their equipment plugged
into your own UPS.

2) The Service
The phone service is transparent. Nothing is different.
The internet service seems faster than cable, but its hard to tell. I
just ran DSL Reports speed test.

It's faster, but from what I hear the latency is higher. This will
cause problems with things like online games that require fast action.
Cable is very good in this area (and may support even higher speeds in
a few years).

It indicated that my download was only 481, but my upload was 1505. I
may have to tweak.


Speed test sites are often unreliable at higher speeds. I have 4Mbps
cable and DSL Reports has NEVER shown more than about 2.8Mbps. I's
actually 4Mbps (see below).

It's best to install a speed-monitoring program like DUMeter, and see
what it says during transfers of the kind you actually make. Note that
servers can be slow, so you may need to do several.

The video service
Pretty much the same as all the digital TV services. Video on
Demand and all that. Picture is very clear.

And will be 2-way, so you have the same potential for invasion of
privacy you do with digital cable. Satellite doesn't have that
problem*.

On screen guide is not
as good was what i remember from my DirecTV, but that may be
receiver dependedent.
For VOD, there are no movies on VOD unless you subscribe to one of
the movie packages (HBO/Showtime/Stars). And the Kids VOD has
some interesting things, however unless they change regularly, my
kids will probably get bored of them.

If you have addl TV's you can hook them up with out the converter
box. You will get local channels. Very similar to Cable in my area. Much
better than DirecTV.

The universal remote that comes with the Digital Box is pretty good.
One problem is it can either run your DVD or your VCR, but not both.

3) The Cost
I was told my bottom line would be about 105 + tax. (I only have one TV
with Digital Box). I compare that to the 150 i was paying for all of these
services prior the change.

4) Review
Aside from the Install, i am happy so far. Mostly everything is
transparent, so i do not notice much of a difference. It will take a while
to get
use to new channels, but that is the case with any new system.


&&&

* I have DirecTV. They tell you you need to keep the phoneline
connected. That is often not the case. For my first receiver, there
has been no phone connection to it in about 4 years. During that time,
I added a second receiver, and NEVER connected a phoneline to it. Not
using the phoneline, does mean you can't order PPV with the remote. Do
that online. It's easy, and safer.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

On 19 Jan 2006 05:05:18 -0800, "
wrote:

did they warn you the upgrade was a one way thing?

I am scheduled for the end of the month in pittsburgh, they said once
you go fibre for DSL you CANT EVER go back!


That makes it sound dangerous. You shouldn't be getting any service
that will actually prevent you from making changes.

are you using VOIP for phone?
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

Not using VOIP, (except for Skype, which i use frequently from the
Computer).

As for "never going back to copper for land line phone". Not sure i really
care. I could survive on wireless phone i believe.

I bet if most people add the 30+ or so they pay for landline and added it to
what they are paying for wireless, they could survive on wireless too.

Maybe its a romantic attachement to land lines, but i believe we could do
away with them quite easily.

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 04:46:30 GMT, "Robert Fenster"
wrote:


Not using VOIP, (except for Skype, which i use frequently from the
Computer).

As for "never going back to copper for land line phone". Not sure i really
care. I could survive on wireless phone i believe.

I bet if most people add the 30+ or so they pay for landline and added it to
what they are paying for wireless, they could survive on wireless too.

Maybe its a romantic attachement to land lines, but i believe we could do
away with them quite easily.


I seem to be in one of the areas where wireless doesn't work well (too
far from a major highway or business area).

I have considered VoIP, which would save money if you make a lot of
long-distance calls (unlimited VoIP service). Sometimes, I've wished I
made a lot of long-distance calls.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

Robert Fenster wrote:
Not using VOIP, (except for Skype, which i use frequently from the
Computer).

As for "never going back to copper for land line phone". Not sure i really
care. I could survive on wireless phone i believe.

I bet if most people add the 30+ or so they pay for landline and added it to
what they are paying for wireless, they could survive on wireless too.

Maybe its a romantic attachement to land lines, but i believe we could do
away with them quite easily.

There is one fairly good reason to retain a copper line if you can.
Copper phone lines can be powered from the head end. Central offices
are equipped with very large generators and banks of wet cell batteries
that help guarantee continuity of service as long as the copper pair is
intact. Even with no power at your home a simple telephone instrument
will keep working for as long as the exchange does.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison

seem to be in one of the areas where wireless doesn't work well (too
far from a major highway or business

If you get any service at all its likey you can add a yagi antenna and
have 5 bars perfect service. you connect your cell phone with a small
adapter to a 20 ffot cable on the antenna that gets mounted outside,
pointed at a good spot.

I have friends in a bad spot with alunmimum siding. previously they had
no service at all indoors, and 1 bar tops outside.

with the antenna under 50 bucks they have 5 bars whioch is the max and
have flawless service with that wire connection.

On 21 Jan 2006 12:09:50 -0800, "
wrote:




seem to be in one of the areas where wireless doesn't work well (too
far from a major highway or business

If you get any service at all its likey you can add a yagi antenna and
have 5 bars perfect service. you connect your cell phone with a small
adapter to a 20 ffot cable on the antenna that gets mounted outside,
pointed at a good spot.

I have friends in a bad spot with alunmimum siding. previously they had
no service at all indoors, and 1 bar tops outside.

with the antenna under 50 bucks they have 5 bars whioch is the max and
have flawless service with that wire connection.

Maybe I'll try that.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin

On Sat, 21 Jan 2006 19:49:32 GMT, Thomas Horne
wrote:

Robert Fenster wrote:
Not using VOIP, (except for Skype, which i use frequently from the
Computer).

As for "never going back to copper for land line phone". Not sure i really
care. I could survive on wireless phone i believe.

I bet if most people add the 30+ or so they pay for landline and added it to
what they are paying for wireless, they could survive on wireless too.

Maybe its a romantic attachement to land lines, but i believe we could do
away with them quite easily.

There is one fairly good reason to retain a copper line if you can.
Copper phone lines can be powered from the head end. Central offices
are equipped with very large generators and banks of wet cell batteries

I've seen those in the Fort Worth central office. Most of the
batteries there came from old submarines.

that help guarantee continuity of service as long as the copper pair is
intact. Even with no power at your home a simple telephone instrument
will keep working for as long as the exchange does.
--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin